In typical CA style, it will require a centacore processor running at 50Thz with 512PB of RAM, a DirectX 55 capable video card with 4PB of VRAM (an Nvidia GeForce Titan XII should do the trick at the low, low price of $10,000USD) and require 65ZB of hard disk storage. Even then, it'll still run like syrup and the AI, despite the hundred million programmers they've assigned to writing just that subsystem, will still do retardedly dumb shit like send a stack of two mobs of pissants against the player's full stack of elite, veteran units one turn after an accepted proposal of a non-aggression agreement.

Orogogus wrote on Jan 13, 2015, 14:24:But really, do people think those conclusions are completely valid, end of story?

Since semi-hard statistics were provided, that makes them completely valid. Sales data is what it is and the public voted for what they wanted most based upon what they purchased.

Orogogus wrote on Jan 13, 2015, 14:24:Games aren't as homogeneous as foodstuffs or office supplies; there so many factors that I don't really know how you would get a baseline to compare from.

Yes, they are. They're an entertainment product. Specific formulas of products sell extremely well and much better than other formulas that don't. For example, what's going to sell more tickets at a theater? Guardians of the Galaxy 2 or a film about a blind, black, transgendered midget set in the ghetto against the backdrop of Depression era Tulsa?

Orogogus wrote on Jan 13, 2015, 14:24: Grand Theft Auto sells a gazillion copies, Watch Dogs sells a lot less than that. Therefore open world games with three word titles are more successful.

From a business perspective, that is absolutely correct. If the statistical data shows that open world Three Words Title sells, say, 180%* more than open world Two Words and that the Three Words Title series sells 562%* more than all games with two words in the title combined, then that is exactly part of the formula that will be used to create the entertainment product. Advertising, sales, and media analysts spend many millions of dollars to figure out the exact formula that will generate the most profit. Certainly, you can't shit in a box, slap the title "Box of Shit" on it and expect it to sell a gazillion copies**. You'll need a quality product that is within the framework of the formula that shows it will sell the most copies.

*Completely fabricated numbers but they work to show how statistics work in regards to total sales.**Actually, it might. See: Goat Simulator.

This probably has a lot to do with why publishers, who generally cough up large sums of money up front to take a cut of the profits later, didn't want a female lead:

"'Male-only hero games sold 25 percent better than those with an optional female hero, and 75 percent better than whose with a female-only hero,' according to the private consulting group EEDAR. Those numbers may have changed in the past two years."

As a business, with shareholders, payroll, profit, and future growth in mind, it makes little sense to go after a smaller profit when there's a larger one available and a demographic that has the possibility of providing you with that larger profit. "May have changed" is nothing more than a hedge, because there's been no significant cultural revolution that was skew those numbers in a way that drastically changes the purchasing habits of the public at large. CoD, Battlefield, Halo, all the major franchises will still see monumental sales regardless of an all, or mostly, male cast. Tomb Raider is the only game I can think of that has sales in the same range as those franchises but features a female protagonist.

SJW/GamerGate/cause du jour aside, the cold hard facts are that the greatest profit to be made is with a specific formula. As a company, at the end of the day, that is the only reason to exist and the only thing to create product to generate.

... all stand united in Paris to show unity on the terrorist issues. Not even Biden or Kerry showed up, though to be honest there's not a single US leader I feel should be there anyway -- they are weaklings and excuse makers in an office built for better people.

Sneakycamper wrote on Jan 11, 2015, 09:29:Oh Boy Here GOes the Future of DUKE NUKEM Forever Again !!! All that Money !! No Game but LOT's Of Money Given to Us That is how to be a SelfMade Millionaire !!! 2016-Update 100 Million and still going strong ! New Investors - Looking to Buy Company ! EA !

Another vote for Sins of a Solar Empire 2. However, the studios mentioned are not Ironclad Games so, unless Stardock has stripped the IP away from them, I wouldn't expect that game's announcement.

As an old fart, this worries me: "... the new one will be a reboot and have a different set of lore from the classic series."

Why? The original lore, plus the gameplay, humor, writing and music, is what made Star Control. The Kzer-za and Kor-ah religious battle, about which little is known, drove the whole point of the conflict in SC2.

Verno wrote on Jan 9, 2015, 11:06:Some people like having a collection that they can resell or lend to friends/family.

Also a fair point. I can do that right now with digital media on USB keys, however. Those people can then play that digital content on a much broader variety of devices, some of which an optical drive simply isn't feasible (tablets, phones, ultrabooks and some laptops for example).

Verno wrote on Jan 9, 2015, 11:06: It's not necessarily anything to do with needing omega quality, although I have to say the difference between some Netflix bitrates and what you get on a decent Bluray goes well beyond just small things sometimes. It's not like Bluray is a big investment either, most people probably own a console or you can get a $30-50 Bluray player.

But hey if it doesn't fit your use case, I get it. I mean some people don't place importance on these things and view content as more disposable, fair enough.

It really isn't a single price point but, rather, the cost of evolution over time. I think the timeline for optical media is Laser Disc, CD-I/CD-V/MMCD, DVD, HD-DVD and Blu-Ray and now this. Since Laser Disc came out in 1978, we can probably chop it off the list. However, the rest of the list spans from early 1997 to today. The USB port became fairly frequent the same year. So, in that time line, I have 7 different optical input standards versus one data input standard that is bi-directionally compatible. Can you play a Blu-Ray in a CD player? However, I can take a USB 1.1 device, plug it in to a 3.0 port and still have the data available. Likewise, cause I just tested this for grins, I can take a USB 3.0 device and plug it in to a USB 1.1 port and have it function (albeit cripplingly slow by today's standard).

My point is that we already have a common interface standard that is also already present on more playback capable devices (versus optical playback devices) that can also easily support all media standards that doesn't necessitate buying new equipment every five to ten years. Why continue to pay for a chain of technology that is essentially dead? Hell, I don't even install my OS off of an optical disc anymore. When was the last time you purchased a physical disc for a PC game instead of downloading it from Steam/GOG/etc for example? Windows, OSX and all Linux distros can be legally purchased/acquired as ISOs that can be made in to bootable keys.

Regarding streaming versus local playback, there's probably going to be some bitrate loss I agree. However, even that can be addressed without too much pain. While I have a Netflix account, I don't like it as much as I like the video I get off of Amazon Prime. Netflix doesn't seem to do a very good job at read ahead buffering compared to Amazon.

Perhaps I have become the old neckbeard yelling at clouds but it irks me to see proprietary crap being shovelled when I have something that is, at least, equal if not exponentially better and far more ubiquitous that is being ignored.

HorrorScope wrote on Jan 8, 2015, 22:03:I tell you how I lost a lot of HW over time.... not having a UPS fronting the pc, that is one wise investment in pc health right there. My failures are almost all electric spike related, my main thing was power supply failures. Since I went to UPS's, I don't know 4'ish years ago with a small army of pc's, way better, no-brainer better. I just got one that gave me around 15 minutes up-time, if power goes out, the software is set to shutdown properly after 5 minutes.

I agree. I can't stress enough how important it is to have a good line conditioner plugged in to the wall with a UPS connected to that. In my current house, I've got a line conditioner inline between the panel and the pole drop. I live in a lightning prone area and it's kind of funny to hear it grunt when it's shunting the excess power to ground. I've got a TrippLite UPS in the rack that gives me plenty of time to get the systems shutdown.

I can count on zero fingers the amount of time I've had hardware fail that murdered an entire system and I've been building my own machines since the mid-80s. Probably because I've never used a component that was the Chinese knockoff part equivalent of a Yugo.

Agent.X7 wrote on Jan 8, 2015, 14:44:I say this as a man who worked in IT for Lockheed Martin building, repairing, and maintaining PCs and laptops, it's not that I can't, it's that I won't.

If that is so, then you should already be familiar with the route that companies like Dell, HP, Asus, etc. take when building machines. If you're ok with overpaying for cheap, shitty parts that have very obviously failed well before their expected service life well, to quote you, "Good for you."

I haven't purchased a Blu-Ray anything...ever. I don't see the point. By the time I invest in the technology, and invest in building a significant library, "Super Uber Mega Deluxe 9000 SEE-THE-SWEAT-DRIP-OFF-A-HOBBIT'S-BALLSACK-HAIR 2048K" is the new standard. Fuck it, Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime and the like are good enough for me. If I want to watch a movie, it's for the story and spectacle. The fact that it is .075% less black than flavor-of-the-month optical media is pointless to me. I just don't have the crippling level of autism or OCD needed to notice it.

What makes far more sense to me is releasing movies on USB keys. They're smaller, take up less room, have far more storage capacity and almost every amp, certainly every HTPC and every major console has USB ports. That way, I could play the movie on a laptop, a desktop, the home theater system, a tablet or even a phone.

SirKnight wrote on Jan 8, 2015, 00:16:I loved Mafia 2. I replayed it over and over so many times I lost count. I just really like the story, characters and environment - especially the 50s part. I was fine with it not being open like GTA.

I also hope they continue the story in 3 where 2 left off. I hope Vito's friend Joe didn't get whacked after all.

That really irritated me. I FULLY expected a DLC to take care of what happened to Joe. They really left players hanging with that, especially since Joe was one of those rare characters you actually gave a shit about.

I feel differently. Joe was a fuckup who got whacked because he was a threat to the organization's stability and opsec. I was glad Joe was killed.

I have loved both Mafia games (including the race level in the first one) and hope to see a third soon. I'd like to see it set in the 60s and 70s.

To a large part, I agree. To me, there is little more aggravating than a coworker who cannot shut the fuck up when I am trying to work. A screaming baby on a long flight is about the only thing that tops it. Both evoke a murderous desire within me. Work is just that, work. You are getting paid to show up, perform a role or task, and then leave. It's not Facebook: The Meat Bag Edition. I don't give a fuck about your kids, your boat, your dogs, your sick Aunt Ethel or what have you. I doubly don't give a fuck when you come over and start yapping about it, completely oblivious to the fact that I have on headphones. At a previous job, I once asked someone "Do you randomly show up at your friends' homes, bang on their doors and, when they open them, start nattering on about the most inconsequential shit in your life? No? Then why do it here? Especially to someone you don't really know. Isn't there a TPS cover sheet you could be designing?"

Sadly, the TPS joke flew right over their heads but, six months later, enough people had had enough of the distractions that we all got our offices and 6 foot tall cubes back.